Toon: A Tale of Two Romneys—and Two Punchlines!

There's nothing harder than a punchline—or a final panel. Even the strongest setup can fall flat without a strong ending, and no cartoonist succeeds every time. And even when you THINK you've got a good punchline, you're often wrong. Here's my first stab at a cartoon about Mitt Romney's big turnaround on gay rights:

In case you're not aware, Mitt Romney may be the MOST virulently antigay candidate for President (with close competition from Mike Huckabee)... but back in the day (i.e. five years ago), he used to campaign in GAY BARS. He won the endorsement of the Log Cabin Republicans of Massachusetts in 2002 for promising to never oppose marriage equality. (He's also the most anti-abortion candidate in the race, even though he promised Massachusetts he was prochoice.)

Masheka and cartoon editor extraordinaire Ted (Rall) both thought the punchline fell flat in that first cartoon. So I cogitated a bit and realized that a cartoon referring to science fiction needed more action, more adventure—and more time-traveling Mitt Romneys spanking baby Mick Huckabees!

Clinging to their abstinence fantasy

The NY Times has an article today on the rising teen pregnancy rate ("Teenage Birth Rate Rises for First Time Since ’91"). The evidence is mounting that abstinence education may not only be stupid and ineffective, it may actually increase teen pregnancy (and STD transmission rates):

The federal government spends $176 million annually on such programs. But a landmark study recently failed to demonstrate that they have any effect on delaying sexual activity among teenagers, and some studies suggest that they may actually increase pregnancy rates.

But the right-wingers are still clinging to their abstinence fantasy:

Robert Rector, a senior research fellow with the Heritage Foundation, said that blaming abstinence-only programs was “stupid.” Mr. Rector said that most young women who became pregnant were highly educated about contraceptives but wanted to have babies.

and

Mr. Rector of the Heritage Foundation said that teenage and unmarried birth rates were driven by the same factors: young women with little education who are devoted to mothering but see no great need to be married.

“We should be telling them that for the well-being of any child, it’s critically important that you be over the age of 20 and that you be married,” he said. “That message is not given at all.”

What, REALLY? Most teenage girls who get pregnant PLANNED IT because they are DEVOTED TO MOTHERING?! How exactly does one qualify to be a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, anyway? Because my deranged electric-cord chewing cat could really use a job.